


With a Little Help

by rafaelbaseball



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Hurt Barba, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Observations, Protective Liv, Worry, protective Sonny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 13:43:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18470134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rafaelbaseball/pseuds/rafaelbaseball
Summary: A short and sweet exploration of Liv's friendship with Rafael and her observations of his relationship with Sonny.--She understands how hard it can be to find someone so accepting, so warm, so willing to love, and Carisi is all those things. If she’s completely honest, she sometimes finds herself with distant pangs of envy when she watches them, whether it be how harmoniously they seem to sync up over a case or how tenderly Carisi drapes an arm over Rafael’s shoulder on their way out of the precinct.They’re in love, and they’re her family. They give her hope.





	With a Little Help

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a Tumblr prompt fill:
> 
> "anything about rafael and liv's relationship i'd be super down for. i feel like a lot of fic doesn't appreciate the really special friendship they have. bonus points if its about liv teasing raf about sonny."

Rushing to the hospital is never on anyone’s list of preferred things to do but as Liv bursts through the doors of Mercy General, she feels particularly sick about it. 

The call had come only twenty minutes ago and she’d made it here in record time. If anyone asks, she most definitely had not used her siren and now that she remembers she’s clutching her keys tightly enough that they’re digging into her palm, she’s not sure whether she’d even bothered to lock the doors. It doesn’t matter, she decides, not in the slightest. 

Liv flashes her badge at the receptionist, nodding toward the doors that lead to the emergency room. “For Rafael Barba? I got a call.”

The receptionist--Sandy, her nametag reads--flashes a friendly smile but not before Liv catches a hint of a grimace. “Yes, of course, I was told you’d be coming. Multiple times. Right through there, he’s in Room Four.”

Liv thanks her but wastes no time making her way through the doors. Room Four, she thinks, dodging a swarm of doctors and nurses pushing a gurney in the hallway, that can’t be too bad. It means he hadn’t need to be rushed to surgery, right? Still, she’d heard the panic and fear over the phone, the words _broke his back_ had resonated so deeply within her that she’d been shaking by the time she’d hung up and all the way here, Liv hadn’t been able to keep herself from going over the worst case scenarios.

She approaches Room Four taking a deep breath then raps on the door, pausing to allow herself just a second to maintain some sense of composure before pushing the door open. What she sees is not what she expects.

“ _Back off_ , I’m serious!” 

Rafael is sitting up in a bed, his hospital gown tied loosely around his neck, and batting at Carisi’s hovering hands. 

“I’m trying to help, damn it! You heard what the doctor said, you need to take it easy.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t drink my own water, Sonny, for Christ’s sake.”

Liv arches a brow, letting the door shut behind her and clearing her throat. It gets their attention, both Carisi and Rafael fall silent as their heads snap up to look over at her. The corners of her mouth twitch as she holds back a smirk, even as the tension from the nerves that have been overwhelming her starts to drain from her shoulders. She sees now that Sonny is holding a small plastic water jug with a straw and the whole scene begins to make sense to her now.

“I see I broke several traffic laws to get here for nothing,” she teases, looking pointedly at a sheepish Carisi. “How is he?”

“I’m fine,” Rafael grumbles, “you didn’t need to come.”

“He has a _compression fracture_ in his spine,” Carisi says, shooting Rafael a stern look before returning his gaze to Liv. “So I wasn’t entirely off base when I said broken back.”

“A little misleading,” Liv tells him, but he only shrugs.

“Fracture’s a fracture. He’s got some scrapes, his hip’s pretty bruised. He _says_ he didn’t hit his head and the doctor didn’t find any abrasions there so at least there’s that.”

“He’s right here,” Rafael chimes in, aggressively waving a hand before letting his head fall back against his pillow with a wince. He lets his eyes fall shut, a heavy, tired sigh escaping him. “Seriously, Liv, it’s not a big deal.”

“It _is_ a big deal,” Carisi argues, setting the water jug down. He takes Rafael’s hand, prompting Rafael to glance up at him with a softened expression. “I had to watch the love of my life get railed by a car. I watched you roll up on the hood and fall back down on the street like a rag doll. It’s a big deal, Rafael. “

Rafael seems to forget there’s anyone else in the room, bringing Carisi’s hand to his lips so he can press a kiss against his knuckles. “Okay, it was a big deal, you win. But I’ll be okay, I promise.” He offers a small but reassuring smile then looks Liv’s way again. “Hey, Sonny, why don’t you go grab Liv a cup of coffee? Get one for yourself, too. And me.”

“Nice try,” Carisi says flatly, freeing his hand and smoothing down Rafael’s messy hair. “Coffee does sound good, though. Lieu, can you make sure he doesn’t try to get out of bed or anything? He’s tried twice already, he’s an animal.”

“I’ll do my best,” Liv promises, watching with amusement as Carisi gives Rafael one final, lingering look then turns to leave. The door falls shut again and the room is left silent for a moment as Liv and Rafael avoid looking at each other. 

She knows now that it isn’t too bad, she knows Rafael will be okay, she knows it could have been a lot worse; but that doesn’t make it any easier to see her friend like this, paler than usual and far more vulnerable than he’s ever been in front of her. 

“So,” Liv starts, taking a couple steps closer to the bed. “Love of his life. That’s pretty heavy.”

Rafael hums, playing with a frayed thread on the edge of his blanket. “Well, I’d better be his. He’s mine.”

Right. 

Liv doesn’t spend much time thinking about it but she does see it, the way Rafael looks at Carisi, the way they look at each other when they think nobody else is watching. They’re not overt in their public displays of affection, just a gentle touch here or a guiding hand there, but Carisi is allowed to handle Rafael in a way nobody else is. 

She studies him while she has the chance, while he’s not fixing her with that gaze that always seems so intense no matter what they’re talking about, and she takes the final few steps to get to him, resting a hand on on his leg. Her touch prompts him to look up, his eyes wet and his lips starting to tremble, just slightly but she notices. 

“He worries too much,” Rafael says but the words come out hoarse and neither of them is convinced for a second he minds it all that much. 

“He loves you,” Liv states simply, “and you’re hurting. More than you’re letting on, I’m guessing. How bad is it?”

“Worse than when my dad broke my arm but at least it was less traumatic.”

He says it so casually that Liv struggles to find a reply but before she can say anything, Rafael groans, his brow creasing as he shifts stiffly, trying to find a more comfortable position. Liv only squeezes his ankle through the sheets, helpless, useless, all she can do is make sure he remembers he’s not alone. 

“They gave me what amounted to extra strength Tylenol, can you believe the audacity?”

Liv chuckles at that. “Maybe Carisi can strong-arm them into giving you something stronger to take home. Did they admit you?”

“No, just observation after the CT came back showing the fracture. And I think he’s secretly enjoying playing the knight in shining armor.”

“Indulge him,” Liv says, moving to take a seat in the chair beside the bed. She inches to the edge of the chair so she can loosely grasp Rafael’s hand, hoping the gesture will be as comforting for him as it is for her. He’s still here, he’s still breathing, that’s what matters. “Let him play nurse for the rest of the week. If he comes back to work pissy because you won’t let him fluff your pillows, we’re going to have words.”

“Oh, he’s not missing work. No way. I don’t even know if I’ll be missing work.”

The stubbornness is still intact, too. Good god. “You have a fracture in your spine,” Liv says, slowly, emphasizing every word _just_ in case Rafael had missed that part.

“I’m actually aware of that, thank you. I’ve already been warned against too much bed rest.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be spending your time walking up and down the stairs of the courthouse the day after you’re hit by a car, Rafael, that’s unreasonable.”

“Did Sonny give you a script to read from before you came in here?”

“I don’t know how he stands you,” Liv says, rolling her eyes, though it’s mostly good-natured. There also exists a part of her that wants to give him a good smack for already intending to be so counterproductive to the healing process. “Anyway, I don’t know why I’m wasting my breath, Carisi will get you to stay home.”

Rafael squints, lifting his chin like he’s been challenged. “That so?”

“Mmhmm.” Liv smiles sweetly, too sweetly, it makes Rafael scoff. “You might give him hell for it but he can take it. He’s immune to all forms of your hostility at this point, you spent too much time pulling his pigtails before you admitted your feelings for him for Carisi to back down.”

“Suddenly you’re an expert on our relationship.”

“Just telling it how I see it,” Liv says, holding her free hand up in mock surrender. “It’s a good thing. I’m happy for you because I can see he makes you happy.” 

They don’t talk about it much because while they are friends and have learned to read each other better than most, it’s still a little too close for comfort. Liv doesn’t have any deep desire to hear the more intimate details of one of her detectives’ love life and frankly, she doesn’t think Rafael is especially eager to share them. It’s worked for them so far, they can still share personal parts of their lives without risking Liv not being able to look Carisi in the eye. 

In spite of that, it still feels important to say it now. She understands how hard it can be to find someone so accepting, so warm, so willing to love, and Carisi is all those things. If she’s completely honest, she sometimes finds herself with distant pangs of envy when she watches them, whether it be how harmoniously they seem to sync up over a case or how tenderly Carisi drapes an arm over Rafael’s shoulder on their way out of the precinct. 

They’re in love, and they’re her family. They give her hope.

“Liv?” Rafael’s voice stirs her from her thoughts and she finds him studying her curiously, though there’s concern laced throughout his expression. “Are you okay?”

“You don’t get to ask me that,” she says, earning a dismissive flick of a wrist. “Just let him take care of you. Save me the grief of being on the receiving end of a string of complaints.”

“I’ll try,” Rafael concedes. “No promises.” A beat passes. “Liv?”

“Hmm?”

He opens his mouth to speak then closes it again, swallowing hard like he’s not ready to say what he wants to say. “I’m glad he called you,” he finally tells her, his voice low and sincere. “I’m glad you came.”

Liv beams at him, glancing at the door when Carisi walks back in balancing two coffee cups in one hand, then looking back at Rafael and tightening her hold on his hand. “So am I, Rafael. So am I.”


End file.
